Lost Brothers
by Thunder.Blade132
Summary: AU Where George Weasley gets separated from his family and thought to be dead when he is young. What happens when he finally gets his letter to Hogwarts? Why does he feel so safe around the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Charlie Weasley? Why does everything feel so right when he is near Fred?
1. The Separation

**A/N: So this thing of beauty is a Christmas Present for my lovely sister! Oops... I'm a couple days late, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it none the less. I hope you enjoy it as well.**

 **Thanks for taking a chance on my Harry Potter AU. Here we go!**

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Everything was green and smokey. Fire was all around him, but it didn't hurt. It felt like he was moving but he wasn't doing anything, except trying to breath and see something besides the green. Looking around, more smoke came, and he couldn't stop from coughing. His head hurt and he felt dizzy. He just wanted to go home.

Reaching out, his hand found the outside of the fire, and suddenly, all of him was thrown from it.

The three and a half year old lay outside an empty fireplace for a moment and sobbed out in fear and pain. He just wanted to go home.

At that though, he stopped and froze.

He had no idea where he was. W-where was home?

His family was at home…

The little boy sat up, and tried to think of his family.

There was Mum and Da-

 _Black Robes and large men coming closer, reaching for him._

Chawy and Biew…

 _Strange words, lights, screaming and yelling. Voices were everywhere, trying to get away._

He was shaking now, and closing his eyes tight, trying to get rid of the image. There were more… there was P-Pewcy a-a-and Won-

 _More shoving and running. Hands grabbing towards him, and hands letting him go. He didn't know which one was worse. There was the green fire again, and he was screaming as he fell._

"No!" The child shouted, pushing himself back from the memory. He opened his eyes wide and gasped in and out. It was hard to breathe. He didn't want to remember anymore. Not if it showed that. He didn't want that.

There was only one word he could remember and feel good about. One word that he would keep safe.

"Gwed…" He whispered. This is who he would look for. He would look for home and look for 'Gwed'.

Standing up, and rubbing his tears away, the little boy decided to get looking. Brushing away some soot and ash from his red hair and straightening his knitted jumper, he walked out of the room and building, only to quickly find himself in an unfamiliar and crowded street.

Noise was everywhere, and it certainly didn't help his head.

Stumbling outside, the little boy shielded his eyes from the bright sun. There was still lots of noise around him, but it was completely different than before. There wasn't any screaming or running, but there were strange red and green lights, people still shoving each other to get somewhere else… Looking to the middle of the street, the boy's eyes grew wide as he saw strange wheeled things. Oh, he had a toy of one of those.

He thought of his dad kneeling by him and his brother, smiling and talking excitedly how it was suppose to work. When his dad reached his hand forward to show him something else though, the memory changed to the one just hours ago, with hands and people, reaching, pushing, yelling.

Someone shoved him as they walked past, and it just made the flashback worse.

He cried out and backed up a few spaces till he reached the side of the building he just left. He slide down and sat with his knees drawn up. He wouldn't think of them. Just Fwed who is sometimes Geowge, but also Gwed, and maybe other times Fowge because he was all of them, and his brother was all of them. They were different, but kind of the same but not exactly, because they were two, and it was better than one, except now he was just one.

It was just him… He was alone.

Where was his brother?

"Hey, sweetie… are you okay? Where's your family?"

Startled at the new voice talking to him, the boy looked up and found a women standing by his side. A man stood a bit behind her, watching him as well.

At the question, he couldn't help but look around again, maybe hoping he might have missed them earlier. "I-... I don…" He let out a small whine and rubbed his eyes again.

The women knelt down and gently put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting rub.

"Oh, come on now. It's okay. Are you lost? You don't know where your family is?"

The young child nodded again, looking up at the women.

He gave a little woman looked a little scared right now. Not like how his mum would look when he almost fell down the stairs, but maybe a little like that. Thinking about his mum, the boy couldn't help but see the differences between the two of them. His mum was shorter and squishier, and good for hugs. Who had fire colored hair and always smiled when he and Gred got up to no good. This woman wasn't anything like that. She was smaller... but taller, and had normal brown hair that went down her shoulders.

"I can call the police and see if anyone has reported a missing kid." The man suddenly said, coming closer. Now the little boy could see him better. He was wearing a dark suit, reminding the other of scary black men from before.

The boy grabbed onto the women tightly for a moment and took back his earlier thought. She was still good for hugs. Maybe not exactly like his mum, but still good. Feeling a bit safer, he watched closely as the man grabbed something from his pocket, thinking it was one of those magic sticks that Mum and Dad had. With the black robed people, though, they became a whole lot more scarier. He clutched the woman tighter, eyes growing tearful again at the thought of more of those scary men.

Instead of a stick though, the man pulled out a small square shaped item, and then he started talking into it.

While the man was talking, the women grabbed the child's attention again. "My name is Susie, what's yours."

The question made him pause, because his name changed a lot. With his twin, they liked to switch. His other brothers sometimes got mad at that, but daddy thought it was funny, and Mum just tried to call them by their first names.

But today…? Today he was suppose to be Fowge, and his brother was Gwed.

"Gwed..." He whimpered through his tears, feeling alone all over again and missing his brother. He brought his jumper sleeve up to wipe his eyes, but it didn't seem to work.

" 'Greg'? Is that your name, little boy?"

He wanted to shake his head, because Fwed was Gwed today, but he liked hearing his brother's name. It made him feel closer. Maybe it would be okay to be called that right now. Maybe then he wouldn't feel all alone and by himself.

"Hey, Greg?" Susie said, once more gaining his attention. He looked up at her and put his hands down. Her eyes traveled down to his jumper where the letter 'G' sewn in on it, and, seeing how he had responded to her, decided that 'Greg' was indeed his name. Standing up, she offered to pick him up. "Want to come find your family? I'm going to help you, okay?"

He looked at her and saw a nice smile, kind of like his mum's. Deciding that it would be hard to look for them all by himself, he nodded and took her hand.

By this time, the man was done talking to… himself? the air? the weird box thing? 'Greg' didn't know, but whatever it was, the man was done with it. He came closer and stood next to them.

"Okay, let's look around the area for a bit, and ask around for them." The man started. "If we still can't find anyone that knows…" he glanced at his wife, Susan, for the boy's name.

Pulling the redhead into her arms, she stood up and answered, "Greg"

"Greg" He filled in, "then we'll take him to the station. They have my number in case anyone comes in looking for him."

"Okay, sweetie. You hear that?" Susie looked straight at the boy with a smile. "Me and my husband, Mark, we're going to look for your family."

He nodded and gave a smile right back at her, the first one since he had lost his family.

"Now, where were you headed? Do you know that? or what your family was doing out?"

He nodded again. He knew exactly why they had been out. They had been shopping, and they were going to get a stick for his oldest brother, just like Mum and Dad, because he was eleven, and then he'd be going away, which was kind of scary and sad, but that was okay, since Beiw seemed really happy about getting a stick. Instead of saying all that though, he merely said "Shopping… Hogowzted scool."

This made Susie and Mark frown. This area wasn't one with many stores, especially for school supplies. She could only assume that the middle word was some sort of school name, but not one she'd ever heard of. They started walking, with Mark asking people, while Susie tried to get more information about who they were looking. "Do you have any siblings? brothers or sisters? How many of your family were with you before you got lost?"

The little boy in her arms quickly brought up eight fingers. "Dis many" though he then frowned and put a finger back down. "Dis much?" It seemed he couldn't decide which of the two numbers there were, but that was okay. It was such a large number that it _should_ be easy to see such a large group, especially if they were looking for their lost son as well.

"Okay, do they look like you?" The woman gently grabbed a lock of his brilliant red hair to help him understand what she meant..

This gained another happy nod.

Looking towards Mark, she saw him give a single nod as well, signalling that he'd heard.

With the new information, the three of them went down many of the nearby streets, asking all around for the little boy's family.

No one had seen anything.

It was a couple hours later, with the child now fast asleep, that they went to the Police Station.

No one had come looking for the three year old 'Greg'.

No matter how many questions were asked about his family or where he lived, nothing seemed to help get them any closer to finding his family. It seemed as though they never existed. He wasn't in the system, and no names given by him were either. Though, with what little they got from the boy, it wasn't really a surprise that they didn't get much, what, with all his mention of magic, or strange creatures like goblins and elves, even him falling through the fire, and going through walls.

By the time night was falling, the police seemed no closer to finding this boy's family then when they started.

The toddler was rapidly falling asleep again, and soon, Mark and Susan Hampton were on their way home with a little three year old between them. Hopefully he would only be staying a few days before they could find some trace of his family.

If not… maybe it was time the two of them thought about having kids? ~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

The Weasley Family was distraught at the loss of their 2nd to youngest child. After the attack on Diagon Alley, they tried to find any sign of George, never stopping for days on end.

Arthur took his normally saved up vacation days and used almost all of them up during this time, searching and asking around for his boy.

Molly, though desperate to go out looking for herself, knew that she had to take care of the rest of her family, help keep them calm, and reassure them that George would be alright.

As members of the Order of the Phoenix, many of their friends volunteered to help keep an eye out as they also sought to bring the Death Eaters to justice. Some of them included Molly's own brothers, the Pewetts, old school friends, like the Longbottoms and Bones, as well as the Potters, and their group of friends.

Anyone who could tried to help and find any sign of George Weasley, but it was as though he had vanished during the attack.

The one most affected by the young Weasley's disappearance was, of course, his twin.

Fred, at first, didn't want to believe his brother was gone. That maybe he was just hiding, because sometimes they did that, only to pop up and surprise their brothers or Mum or Dad.

It was very quickly though that the twin realized the truth and broke down and cried.

Percy, after listening to his brother cry for awhile, couldn't stand it, and so the 5 year old had to go check on him. There, sitting on the floor, wrapped up in George's blanket, was Fred.

Not sure what to do, Percy went and sat down by his brother and pulled him into a hug like Mummy or Daddy might do when _he_ was sad.

With such an overload of feelings, it was no surprise when Fred soon fell asleep, still holding onto Percy.

When the other boy tried to move, groggy and watery brown eyes looked up at him in fear. "...No… don'..." the small voice mumbled, clutching tighter to the fabric in his hands. "Don' wanna be 'lone…."

Percy almost felt like crying then too, because he didn't realize that, even surrounded by so many other brothers, Fred might feel alone or scared without George. The two of them were always together, no matter what.

It made the 5 year old worry for a moment. What would Fred do about nightmares now? Percy sometimes heard them at night. One would wake up, but with the other right there, they could get back to sleep. What about just playing and normal days? Fred and George were never apart, it seemed.

Would Fred be okay without his twin?

Making a decision right then, he gently tried to get Fred to let go of his jumper. "I'll be right back. I promise."

The three year old nodded and changed his death grip from Percy to the blanket again, watching as the other left the room.

By the time he came back, he was almost covered in his own blankets and pillows, trying to awkwardly move around the room without falling over.

Dropping everything on the floor, he then pulled Fred into his impromptu nest, and laid down. It was late enough for him to go to bed right now, even if just days earlier he had complained at his bed time.

Pulling Fred close, and making sure he was covered, Percy leaned down and whispered into his brother's ear. "You won't be alone. I promise." He said it with all the seriousness a five year old could muster, because no matter how annoying or loud he thought his younger brothers were, he didn't want to see them sad, and he would do whatever it took to help Fred smile.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Enough time passed that the search parties became less and less frequent. Some, by that point, had already given up, saying that a child that young, and in times like these… he was surely dead. Though the family wished dearly to believe it not to be so, there was no sign to indicate otherwise.

The two worlds, the two children, learned to grow up without each other. Each learning to depend on laughs and jokes. Fred, because he wanted his family to be happy. Because even with their loss, he wanted them to smile. His twin, with his sad and scared beginnings, wished no one else to feel like that, and tried to make others happy as well.

They would continue to lead these separate lives, slowly forgetting about each other, until one fateful day when a Hogwarts letter found itself on a muggle family's doorstep.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

 **A/N: So, I hope you enjoyed all that. I have the next chapters written, but I plan on doing a couple days to a weekly updates so that I have time to keep on schedule and keep writing. Who knows if it'll keep though since a new semester is starting in a week or two.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts.**


	2. The Letter

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, and thanks for all your review, reads, and favorites. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. Hope you continue to do so, and here you go. Next chapter. Yay!**

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Nine years had passed since the couple had found the little boy wandering the streets on his own, and though they had tried, his family was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, he was quickly adopted and became on "Gregory Hampton", raised near muggle London, as a 'normal' muggle child. The only sign of his magical heritage was his interest in the slight of hand tricks.

He learned as many as he could, loving to see the wonder and joy in the eyes of his classmates as he made something disappear. He never quite understood it, but it felt natural to talk about his magic, to do the impossible, even if most people said it was all just fake.

He wanted to believe that something was out there. It wasn't just his imagination that on his seventh birthday, when one of his friends got him a silly teddy bear stuffed animal, that only two hours later, it was suddenly a large spider plushy. The exact type that they had learned about in school the previous week, and that Greg had thought was so cool.

After only a few minutes, it had changed back, and his parents insisted that he was just imagining things. but Greg didn't think so. Somehow, it had changed it's shape.

He had also once broken his mother's broom, pretending he could fly around on it, when suddenly he could have sworn he flew, _actually flew_ , across the room and crashing into the wall, not only snapping the broom in half, but causing several picture frames to break as well.

No number of explanations could explain to his parents that he wasn't just playing around– even if he was– and that he went flying on the broom for real.

Yes, he had had a number of certain… _incidents_ that could only be explained by magic. And he knew that, as he awoke on his 11th birthday, something big, something _magical_ would happen on this day to.

He just knew it,

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"I'm sorry… Y-you… It's just- Magic?" Susie's shaky voice drifted from the kitchen.

Greg sat on the stairs, listening as his parents tried to comprehend all that they had heard afternoon.

He had been right when he woke up that morning. Something amazing _did_ happen. A strange man had shown up on their doorstep with a letter for Greg, one which invited him to a special school, a _magic_ school. The man explained that he was a teacher there, and about how wizards and witches did exists, and that Greg was one of them.

The redhead believed it.

His parents… didn't.

They didn't seem to know how to handle this all, and had even needed to have someone from the magical government come and help try to smooth things over. It probably didn't help that his birthday fell on April Fools Day, a day for pranksters all over. He was well known for playing games and tricks on his friends and family on this day–all in good fun of course– but this… this was too much for him to have made, and his parents had to know that.

It hardly crossed his mind that it could be an elaborate prank on someone else's part. It just felt too _right._

Greg sat and watched. His father, Mark, kept shaking his head, trying to deny it. The man looked back and met the gaze of his son. In his eyes held that confusion, and Greg immediately broke eye contact and headed upstairs to his room. He didn't want to see that any more. He didn't want his parents to look at him like that, to look at him and think, ' _What are you?'_

The young wizard opened the letter and read it, most of it having already been said by the teacher downstairs, but to feel it in his hands, to read it for himself, felt like something else entirely.

His eyes scanned the school supply list, lingering on one specific item. They lit up as he thought of getting his own wand, remembering how excited Bill had been getting his.

...wait…

Who was Bill?

It hadn't been the first time a name triggered this kind of feeling in Greg. Sometimes he would just push it to the side because he was too busy to really think about it at that moment, but right now… with this new magical realization… were these names tied with Magic?

Greg slumped down and sat on the floor, trying to picture this 'Bill', trying to see _anything_.

Shapes were coming into focus, figures and people. He could almost see it, he felt like he was reaching forwards, trying to stop the image from leaving. His hands seemed to grasp at the closest figure, it's back to him. Trying to catch ahold of it, the redhead finally was able to turn the figure around.

For an instant, it was him. Almost like a reflection, but… not. No, it wasn't him. The two of them were different, but kind of the same. Not exactly… because they were two, and it was better than one, except… wasn't he just one?

The strange mirror image of him suddenly vanished, and he panicked. He suddenly felt so small and alone, with black shadows surrounding him. He recognized _these_ figures. They would often haunt his dreams through the years. He thought that maybe he'd gotten over it though, but it seems this nightmare wouldn't leave him alone.

He was surrounded by green and black, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. Maybe he'd go through the entire dream right now. He wasn't even asleep, though! Even knowing this couldn't make the images go away. More sounds, more voices, more movements...

He didn't want to see this. He'd forget Bill, he'd forget the mirror boy, just _please!_ Make this stop!

"G-Greg?"

The boy's head snapped up, eyes wide and wet.

There, at the door to his room, stood his mother, still looking a bit pale and shaky.

"Your.. the, uh, w-wizard downstairs. He wanted to tell you a few more things." She was trying to give him a smile, like everything was normal, like her entire world hadn't just been flipped around.

With his nightmare now fading to the back of his mind, Greg stood up and headed towards the door. He wanted to go up to his mother for comfort from his scare, but seeing her take extra care to step slightly back as he passed her made him change his mind.

It seemed she was still weary about all this magic business. No doubt his father was still like that as well.

Greg shrugged it off, though. It'd probably get better, especially after they bought his school stuff and he actually started attending this magical school.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Time seemed to speed through the months till September came, and although there was still quite a bit of strain between Greg and his parents, he was far to excited to really dwell on it.

He was currently sitting on the _Hogwarts Express_ , having gotten to the station a bit early. It was a good thing, too. Looking outside to the platform (which he had to go through a solid wall to get to!), it was now filled to the brim with wizards of all ages. The natural noise of the platform was loud enough, but add in weeping parents and excited children, and it becomes almost impossible to have a decent conversation out there.

To pass the few minutes till his journey started, Greg pulled out a simple deck of cards. Even knowing that magic, _real_ magic was… well, _real_ , he still enjoyed the tricks and sly movements of the muggle kind.

As he was shuffling and preparing the deck for one of his favourites, the door to his compartment suddenly came open. There, standing in the doorway, were a pair of Ravenclaws. They paused in their conversation and stared at the obvious first year. He gave them a grin, and held out the deck. "Pick a card!"

And that was what started his first introduction to the wizarding world's thoughts on Muggle magic. For most of the ride there, Greg found himself entertaining many different students. It seemed that his muggle tricks were very interesting for wizards. The blue clad ravenclaws were ones he had the hardest time fooling after a first round. They would be watching and learning, trying to figure out how this kid was doing his tricks, making objects vanish, seeming to read minds, and a bunch of other ones.

He met another first year called Lee, and they hit it off right away, though there seemed to be a mix up where he thought his name was 'Fred', and they'd met at the station, but whatever. Time flew by, and Greg felt his smile growing bigger and bigger the closer they got to the school.

And when they finally got there… It was beautiful, though a bit intimidating. He sure was happy that he had Lee by his side, that way the wizarding child could explain some of the more confusing things about the magical world. And the fact that there was apparently a giant squid in the middle of the lake. How cool was this!?

Lee tapped his shoulder to drag his attention back to the present when a stern old looking witch called Professor Mcgonagall, led them into the Great Hall. As they were passing the four tables, each holding the rest of the students, Greg looked around at the ceiling, trying to see where it went from normal wall into the sky. His eyes followed the wall down until he was staring at a table filled with students lined in red. That was Gryffindor, right? That's what Lee said, so Greg could only assume it was right.

As his eyes looked at the different students sitting there, he seemed to catch the eye of one of the older boys. He was around fifteen or sixteen with short red hair like his own, but the only reason Greg took notice of him is because the other smiled at him and gave a wave with a thumbs up.

Feeling slightly confused, but happy at the warm welcome he was getting, he returned the greeting with a confused smile and small wave of his own.

Finally at the front of the room, they were starting their sorting. Now all he had to do was wait until it was his turn.

"...Gregory Hampton." Mcgonagall called out his name from her list after several students had gotten sorted.

With an excited beat in his step, he went up to the stool and gladly sat down. He thought he heard a quiet " _Hey!"_ from the direction of the rest of the first years, but he didn't pay it much mind because his vision went dark when the hat was placed on his head.

" _Hmm… another one? How many of you are there going to be in these next few years?"_ A voice suddenly whispered into his head, causing Greg to jump in surprise.

" _What do you mean? Muggle born students? Or students in general, because I think it's suppose to be your job to see a lot of us through the years."_ Greg thought back, still a bit surprised at this hat that could apparently read his mind.

" _Cheeky boy, no. It seems you don't quite know… Hmmm, interesting indeed."_

" _What? What are you talking about?"_ Greg grew worried. What if something was wrong with him or his magic? " _Do you do this with all the other students? Why can't you just sort me, you stupid hat."_

The Sorting Hat just chucked at the childish insult, " _Oh, no. This requires some thought because I need to know if you are willing to find out..."_

He faded off, leaving Greg with the question, " _Find out what?"_

At those words, the darkness in the eleven year old's sight changed. No longer was there only black, but flashes of green, and far too familiar figures from his dreams. They seemed to be popping up a lot since he learned about magic.

" _The Truth."_ The voice deep in his mind called out.

He wanted to run, like he always did when these images would come at him, but a flash of the mirror boy came to him, and it made him pause… because he did want to know the truth. Something about it, about 'Bill' and the boy who looked like he did, and suddenly, the boy at the Gryffindor table stood by them as well, and yet it still didn't feel like it was enough.

" _No… I-I want to know what this mean, I want to know who these people are. I'm not scared."_ The young boy gave a stiff nod, as if affirming his statement.

Another chuckle from the hat sounded in his mind. " _You can not hide your fear from me, Mr. 'Hampton',"_ There was an odd emphasis on his last name, but Greg didn't pay that as much attention as the rest of the hat's words. " _But you do have courage and determination enough for this. Yes, you will be placed in…"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" He shouted the last word out loud as applause rang out through the hall.

Still feeling confused from the conversation from the magical item, Greg took off the hat, and jumped down from the stool, ready to join the table on the far left that was currently cheering loudest for him.

There were spots between students all along the line, and there were smiling and welcoming faces to go with them, but when the first year saw the open spot right next to the other redhead that had caught his eye when he came in, he couldn't help but go towards that seat instead.

"Hi," he said when he finally got there. There was a girl sitting somewhat next to the other boy, but she moved over, giving more room for Greg to sit down there.

The older redhead blinked and stared at him, almost as though he was trying to figure out some sort of puzzle. However, the older teen quickly shook his head and gave another grin.

"Hey, Greg right? The name's Charlie Weasley." He offered his hand, but for a moment, Greg could have sworn the other's eyes shifted back towards the remaining first years. What he didn't see was the flash of pain go through Charlie's eyes at the same time. "And this is my brother Percy," He said, gesturing to a 3rd year on the opposite side of the table. Like his brother, Percy had brilliant red hair, though he had horned-rimmed glasses resting in front of his eyes.

With nothing much covering the table between them, the younger brother was able to easily reach across and offer his hand as well. "Percy Weasley, Welcome to Gryffindor, Greg," the older boy said with an air of someone he knew exactly what he wanted in life.

Greg gave another grin. "Thanks." He couldn't help but look around at everything surrounding him. It was all so impressive, and there were so many students here.

He relaxed onto the bench with the rest of his House, smiling all the while. He didn't know what it was, maybe being at Hogwarts, maybe being in Gryffindor, or possibly maybe even just sitting by Charlie and Percy, but he felt far more complete than he had in years. If this was how his whole time in school would be, then summer could just take a break. Let the school be all year long.

And a sudden shout from the front of the room, calling out another "GRYFFINDOR!", brought Greg's attention to small first year coming towards him. Lee Jordan, grinning like a fool, sat down on Greg's other side, leaving Charlie still beside him.

"Greg, Greg!" The young boy hopped excitedly beside him, happy to be in the same house as his friend from the train. He noticed the two older redheads. "Oh, you're Percy and Charlie Weasley right? I think we met at the station?"

Charlie nodded, remembering how quick Lee and Fred had gotten along after just a few quick laughs and jokes.

"See, and here I thought I messed that up, since Greg was so confused when we were in our train compartment. You guys are brothers, ri-" Lee was about to ask, but was cut off by a glare from Percy.

"The sorting is still going on, you two." He harrumphed, looking quite cross at the first years. "This is an important tradition and part of every year's welcoming feast. Try to pay attention to it."

At this point, Charlie gave a stern look to his brother, knowing that if the other two didn't want to pay attention, that was their own decision. At the admonishing look from the 6th year, Percy gave a slight pout and rectified his statement. "Well, at least try to be quiet so the _rest of us_ can listen."

With those words, Percy turned his attention back towards the front, where another first year was placed into Ravenclaw. Both Greg and Lee gave sheepish smiles, not really meaning to disrupt the sorting ceremony for the others around them. They quietly turned around to face the Head Table where the Sorting Hat was being placed on a young girl, and tried to pay attention for the rest of the sorting.

Finally, they were getting down to the last child to be sorted, hearing Mcgonagall call out for "Fredrick Weasley" to come forwards.

Greg held in a gasp when he saw the mirror boy approach the stool. He turned to both his neighbors with a confused look in his eyes, as though maybe Lee or Charlie might have an answer to who this strange boy was and why he seemed to appear in Greg's dreams.

Lee, though, had no such answers. Instead, he looked at Greg with almost as much shock and confusion on his face. "Wait… I though that-"

Again, Percy cut him off, staring intently at his apparent younger brother at the front of the room. Greg looked at the 3rd year, then to Charlie by his side. He met with blue eyes staring at him with a thoughtful gaze, seeming to shift between him and Fred up at the front, comparing the two. Though, when Charlie saw Greg looking back, he quickly shifted his eyes back up to front to stare at Fred instead.

It didn't take long for the hat to finally call out the last house for the year, shouting out through the room that the newest Weasley would take his place with "GRYFFINDOR!"

With the word ringing through the hall, it once again filled with applause, much louder than any before, seeing as it was the last of the sorting and everyone was impatient to get on with the feast that was coming.

Fred come coming straight down the line towards Greg, though it was probably more accurate to say that he was going towards his brothers instead. When he got close enough to them, though, he froze in his steps when he saw this strange boy, looking almost exactly like him, and sitting with his family.

There was a moment before Greg slid over closer to Lee, so that Fred could sit by his brother if he wanted. The other Gryffindor took the offer, giving Charlie a look, as though asking who the heck this guy was. He would have verbalized the question, but Dumbledore was already standing up and giving his opening feast announcements, and they seemed like they might be kind of important to hear.

Leaving the mystery of his strange doppelganger along for the moment, Fred Weasley listened as the rest of the announcements were made and the feast was suddenly presented.

As the rest of the student body got into eating, Greg and Fred finally were able to turn to each other, each staring at the other in silence before Fred broke it with a simple statement. "You stole my face."

Greg only looked mildly confused before answering almost straight away. "No I didn't, I mean… you got it right back. I only did a bit of borrowing so I could copy it." He gave a shrug. "No harm done."

Fred Weasley stared even more intently at this copycat of himself before leaning back and proclaiming, "You didn't do a very good job of it. You missed a bunch of freckles on my nose."

Immediately, Greg's hand flew up to the bridge of his nose, rubbing it as though he was trying to feel the missing freckles the other had mentioned. "Yeah well," the first year said, "I guess I was focused too much on the eyebrows. The left one seemed a bit more crooked than the right, so I tried to fix it."

Just as Greg had, Fred's own hands flew up to his face, though his went to his eyebrows, touching them and trying to see if one really was crooked. Not able to notice anything, but still feeling slightly insulted at the insinuation, Fred turned back to Greg and made a pout. "Well, you didn't do a good job of it, seeing as they still look funny." He gave a ' _ha!'_ at the end of those words, not really thinking about what he had just said.

Charlie, sitting right next to him, suddenly snorted into his glass. He had been listening to the two of them and almost choked on his drink when his younger brother proclaimed that last statement.

Lee and Greg both held in laughs as well, leaving a slightly confused Fred in the middle. When he realized that he had just insulted himself as well, the youngest Weasley's face turned as red as his hair and he started laughing out loud just as his look-alike did the same.

For the rest of the feast, the two smallest red-heads entertained each other with stories of pranks and laughs, Lee, their newest friend, joined in with his own tales as well. It was easily the best moment at Hogwarts so far for the three of them.

When the meal was finished and the 5th year prefects of each house started leading the 1st years back towards their dormitories, Fred, Lee, and Greg stuck close to each other, giving conspiratorial whispers back and forth between them, and occasionally looking around at the castle as they passed by. Fred and Lee made sure that Greg, being the muggleborn that he was, understood about the moving portraits, the trick stairs, and any other secrets about Hogwarts that they had heard about.

When the ghosts appeared, the Prefect guiding them made sure to warn them about one in particular. "Peeves the Poltergeist." She turned and stopped for a moment, making sure she had all the eleven year olds' attention. "He likes to cause a bit of mischief and trouble for the students, so be on your guard.

At those words, Fred couldn't help but grin. "He sounds like my kind of ghost."

Greg nodded his agreement. "Think he'd be willing to help us out with a few harmless pranks of our own?" He asked his two friends.

While Fred loved the idea, he had heard from his older brothers that Peeves had never taken orders from anyone, not even Dumbledore. "Nah… probably not, but it would have been cool anyways."

When they finally they reached Gryffindor Tower, guarded by a portrait of a woman who was literally called 'The Fat Lady', the three young gryffindors held in snickers at, what they thought was a _very_ appropriate name. Though they tried to quiet down after hearing Lee whisper that "even if you say the right password, if she's mad, she won't let you in".

This year's password was simple enough, at least in Greg's mind, when he heard the, what he assumed was latin, phrase " _Imperium Maius"._ It also sounded pretty cool, which was a bonus. After he had made that comment, Fred spoke up.

"Oh, yeah. They can get pretty silly. My oldest brother, Bill, said that in one of his years was ' _Taradiddle'_ and there was another that was something like ' _Hibbery Dap'_ or other nonsense stuff like that."

Greg paused in his steps after he heard his friend's comment.

' _Bill_ '

The name resounded in his head, making it hurt. He tried to focus on it more, knowing that it was even more important now that he also found the Mirror Boy, but it seemed to only make his headache worse.

He let out a whimper as the pain grew, and tried to think of something else instead.

Fred and Lee noticed their third member's distress, and instantly grew worried.

"Greg? Hey, mate, what's wrong?"

"Are you okay?"

They both voiced their concerns, trying to understand what was wrong.

Greg couldn't reply though, and just tried to take deep breaths, wishing the pounding in his head would go away. It might help if his Mirror Boy, Fred, left him alone, but the mere thought of that made his breathe come in even shorter gasps.

A gentle hand on his head brought Greg's attention back to Hogwarts and the common room. The other 5th year prefect stood in front of him, giving a worried frown.

"Hey, you okay? Do you need to lie down?" The Prefect boy, who Greg couldn't remember the name of right now, gave a small understanding smile. "All your stuff should be ready for you up in your dorm, and I'm sure your dorm mates would be willing to be quiet for a bit for you to rest."

Greg just nodded because that sounded like a good idea. This whole day had been filled with so much excitement and new things to take in. Add in his weird dreams and 'Bill' plus the Mirror Boy, and it was just too much.

As the Prefect opened his mouth again, another voice cut in. "I'll take him up," said Charlie Weasley as he came forward, a worried look on his face when he saw the distress the young first year seemed to be in.

Other students of all years were now returning to the Common Room, making it slowly become more crowded as people strived to get to their things to unpack and settle from the train ride.

The Prefect nodded and let Charlie lift up the small redhead and be on his way up towards the first year domatories.

Fred and Lee just watched with worry. The latter of the two boys couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with him? Is he okay?"

The 5th year didn't look too worried though and nodded to help comfort them. "Yeah, it's not that uncommon for some first years to just get overwhelmed by everything Hogwarts has to offer. It mostly happens with Muggle Born students, but I went through something similar my first year, and I grew up with magic, so it can also happen to purebloods too."

This seemed to reassure the young gryffindors.

"He should be fine in the morning as long as he gets a good night's sleep." And with that, the Prefect gave one last smile and headed off to do his own thing, leaving the two boys to themselves.

They seemed to take his words as a challenge though, and went straightway to the stairs which led to their own dorm room, grabbing all their large belongings, and even some of Greg's own luggage and made a sort of barricade.

Both were so focused on their job that they hadn't even noticed that Charlie was still up there, having been in the boy's bathroom to set a water glass by Greg's bedside in case he needed it later. The 6th year gave them both a strange and admonishing look when he saw what they were doing.

Fred pouted and tried to defend their actions, knowing that they were just helping his friend. "We're just making sure no one comes in and makes too much noise to wake him."

Charlie got this look on his face that he used whenever he was about to get Fred in trouble for some sort of prank and go tell on him to his parents.

The youngest Weasley boy hurried and cut in, "The.. uh, the guy… uh, " Fred tried to remember the 5th year Prefect's name, but honestly, he had been too focused on seeing Hogwarts for the first time and talking with his friends to have really been paying attention when the two of them had been introduced. "The Prefect said so! That we needed to make sure Greg got some good rest. We were just followin' orders."

Charlie rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways. "You know that's not what he meant, Fred." Although it was a reprimand, Fred could tell that Charlie would leave them to do what they wished.

As he climbed over their partial barricade, he did turn back and look at the two of them. "Just make sure you don't keep this up too late. All the first years should get a good rest tonight, and that includes you and your dorm mates."

Fred grinned and gave a thumbs up to his brother.

Finally, they finished setting up the miniwall and both clambered onto of it. Lee had grabbed a deck of Exploding Snap for them to play, glad that it was an old and worn deck where the explosions were highly muted and made hardly a noise at all.

They spent much of the evening up there, blocking the way for the other first year, a poor boy named Kenneth who had just wanted to settle himself in. Both kept quite, Fred often glancing into the room to double check that Greg was still resting. It was getting late in the evening, and Lee and Fred were just about to head in for bed themselves after their last game of cards when Fred heard a noise.

His head snapped in Greg's direction and he almost leapt off the pile and hurried towards his look-alike's side when he realized what was happening.

The other was obviously having a nightmare of some sorts, and it looked horrible. Remembering when he had his own nightmares, and how Percy had been there for him for comfort, Fred grabbed the other redhead's hand. He gave a small squeeze, hoping to show Greg that he wasn't alone.

It seemed to work well enough as the other first year settled down and a small smile grew on his face, replacing the strained and fearful look that had been there before.

Fred smiled back, happy to have helped his new friend.

He didn't know much about Greg, but he did know there was something special about him. He liked being near him. It made him feel more… complete somehow.

Part of his thoughts pointed out that this feeling of a hole being filled could just be because he was now at hogwarts and finally learning magic. A smaller part of him though hoped it was because of Greg somehow. Ever since he could remember, something has been missing and today was one of the first days that everything seemed to feel alright.

Lee looked at the two boys and gave a whispered goodnight to Fred, moving the last of their belongings out of the way, all the while letting their final roommate in so he could get some rest as well. Fred gave a 'good night' in return, and gave a final squeeze to Greg's hand before getting ready for bed himself.

As he lay in bed, he turned on his side to face his look-alike. His eyes drifted closed and he let himself relax, a quite "Good Night Greg" leaving his lips as sleep overcame him.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~


End file.
